
Love fish balls? You have to try this easy homemade fish balls recipe. The street food staple gets a better-for-you, whip-it-at-home upgrade.
How do you make an easy fish balls recipe?Â
Any fish may be used but for this recipe, but for an easy-to-find fish, we used tilapia. The sauce for this homemade street food, meanwhile, can be easily tweaked, too, just the way you like it. Add more sugar if you want it sweeter or alternatively, add fresh chilies or hot sauce if you favor more heat in your version. We suggest you make a big batch and just freeze them until ready to use.
Just fry, skewer, and dip!Â

Homemade Fish Balls Recipe
This street food staple gets a better-for-you, whip-it-at-home upgrade. Just fry, skewer, and dip!
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Resting Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Snacks/Merienda
Cuisine Chinese, Filipino
Servings 10
Ingredients
Homemade Fish Balls Ingredients
- 500 Grams fish (use fillets), (any fish may be used; we used tilapia for this recipe)
- 1-inch piece ginger peeled
- 4 cups Potatoes diced
- 1 Cup carrot diced
- 1 whole Garlic minced
- 1 Egg beaten
- 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
- 1/2 Cup cassava flour
- Salt to taste
- 8 cups fish stock
- Oil for deep-frying
- 1 Cup Vinegar
- 1 Cup clear soda
- 1 Cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
- chili flakes Optional
Instructions
- Poach the fish fillet in salted water with the ginger.
- Once cooked, flake the fish to make about 4 cups of flaked fish.
- In a separate pot, boil potatoes and carrots until soft.
- Place the flaked fish, potatoes, carrots, garlic, and egg in a food processor. Purée until smooth.
- Transfer to a bowl and add the cornstarch and flour; mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Form into 1-inch balls. Simmer in fish stock until opaque. Drain.
- To serve, deep-fry in oil until golden brown. (Freeze uncooked balls until ready to cook.)
- Make the sauce: In a pan, mix together vinegar, soda, sugar, and soy sauce. Simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add the cornstarch mixture (increase the amount for a thicker consistency); boil to remove the starchy taste. For a spicy sauce, add chili. Serve with fish balls.
Keyword fried fish recipe, Filipino fish recipe, steamed fish recipe, fish ball
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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